Food quality and tracebility
The capability of tracking and labelling the food origin and quality have assumed primary importance worldwide. There is the necessity to investigate the effect of changes in the composition of typical food and other factors affecting the genuineness of products. Advancing food quality and security protocols should be used along the whole food chain. To prevent fraud and to assure consumer confidence it is crucial to introduce new methodologies based on recent scientific and technological achievements on traceability. This could be achieved using advanced instrumentation, different markers and natural tracers.

Micronutrient malnutrition
There is an increasing consumer demand for micronutrients from natural food, fortified food or pharmaceutical supplements. Vitamins and minerals, cannot be synthesized by the human body. They must be provided by the diet. They are necessary for the regulatory systems in the body, for efficient energy metabolism and for other functions such as cognition, immune system and reproduction. The term micro-nutrients reflects the minute quantities of elements needed by the human body but it is certainly does not reflect the nature and extent of damage being brought about by their deficiencies in societies on such a vast scale today.